Manufacturing assemblies typically employ tools to carry out various functions or operations. In many situations it would be ideal for such tools to be operable over a wide range of movements, and to be positioned and repositioned depending on various factors, including measurements. One example of an assembly that would stand to benefit from the ability to reposition various tooling elements is the use of an assembly in the manufacturing processes for textile structures, such as nonwoven products.
Nonwoven products have gained continued acceptance in the industry for a wide range of applications, particularly as replacements for woven fabrics. Nonwoven materials typically comprise a single layer of randomly oriented fibers. Examples of products employing nonwoven materials to date include facings or top-sheets in diapers, incontinent pads, bed pads, sanitary napkins, hospital gowns, cleaning towels, carpets, draperies and industrial and commercial goods, such as wipe cloths, tire cords, conveyor belts, and hospital fabrics. It is typically desirable to produce the nonwoven material so that it has the flexibility and hand softness of a textile, yet is as strong as possible.
Conventional manufacturing processes for nonwoven materials, such as nonwoven glass fiber materials employed in roofing shingles, as well as other products, typically follow a similar approach. Specifically, a slurry of glass fibers is made by adding glass fiber strands to a pulper to disperse the fiber in the white water. The slurry mixture is then deposited onto a “forming wire” and dewatered to form a continuous wet nonwoven fibrous mat. A binding agent may then be applied to the wet mat to bond the randomly dispersed fibers in their respective locations and directions.
Such manufacturing processes normally do not, however, form a nonwoven material to a desired width. And since the nonwoven manufacturing assemblies are designed to accommodate a wide range of products with different widths, the material must typically be cut to a desired size. Specifically, before it is dried and rolled for packaging, the nonwoven material is typically subject to two cutting stages, a wet-cut and a dry-cut. Since the binder agent is solidified after drying and curing, the peripheral trims of the material after drying are normally not recycled or reusable. But, the material trimmed during the wet-cutting stage is typically recycled, reducing overall manufacturing costs. Thus, it is advantageous to make cuts of excess material during the wet-cutting process as close as possible to the final dimension of the nonwoven material.
Moreover, waterjet nozzle orientation contributes to unsatisfactory trimming, thus resulting in increased waste. For example, the angle at which the waterjet nozzle sprays the material to be trimmed impacts the success of material separation. Unfortunately, conventional devices do not typically have a broad range of nozzle movement and orientation in desirable directions. Moreover, conventional positioning devices do not typically provide for quick return to previous orientation positions for the nozzle, increasing the set-up time for wet-cutting the nonwoven material. Consequently, when employing such devices, a trial-and-error approach is usually required each time a wet-cut of a material is accomplished during manufacturing. Of course, trial-and-error approaches typically result in more wasted material as the operator attempts to find the best orientation for wet-cutting. Furthermore, conventional positioning devices are typically operated by manually moving the nozzle into position. Since the waterjet nozzle is located near the moving nonwoven material, the danger to the operator increases as he adjusts the nozzle. Accordingly, a positioning device is needed that does not suffer from such deficiencies.